four-flusher

PRONUNCIATION:

(FOHR-flush-uhr)

MEANING:

noun: A pretender, bluffer, or fraudster.

ETYMOLOGY:

In a game of poker, a full flush is five cards of the same suit.
A four-flush, only four cards of the same suit, is almost worthless.
A player pretending to have a full flush while holding only a four-flush,
is said to be a four-flusher. Earliest documented use: 1904.

USAGE:

“Mr. Corbett was basically a four-flusher. He cut education funding in a
monumentally shortsighted move and double-crossed the Post-Gazette for
its 2010 endorsement.”
Dan Simpson; Giving Thanks for This and That; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
(Pennsylvania); Nov 26, 2014.